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Led Zeppelin

Stern Pinball, 2020 — shot-by-shot rules and strategy guide.

Open Led Zeppelin in the Pinball Genie app →

Steve Ritchie's final Stern design (rules/code by Tim Sexton). Editions: Pro, Premium, LE (500 units). Premium and LE share one playfield; edition-only features are marked premium-le, everything else all.

Core loop — Songs & Records. Each ball you pick one of 10 song modes, which runs the whole ball and lights shots dynamically by section (intro/verse/chorus/solo). Making lit shots earns Record Sales; every 100K = 1 Gold Record. 5 gold records completes a song, 10 = Platinum. Completing/changing a song lights Change Song at the right orbit and awards 2 Band Boosts.

Skill shot. After song select, time the plunge to the moving L-E-D target (it sweeps left↔right). Award: 500K + 5 sec ball save.

Icarus X — playfield multiplier. Combos (lit shots in quick succession) are cashed by hitting any of the four target banks (LED, ZEP, ROCK, Ball-Save), adding +0.1× per combo shot to that bank. Icarus X = the product of all four bank multipliers, so you build them evenly (always feed the lowest). Once all four banks are raised, the center Icarus standup lights the timed playfield multiplier (~15 sec, +5 sec per side-flipper shot); shooting Icarus during the window recalculates it live.

Band Boosts (action button). Start with 1, earn more by completing/changing songs (max 5). Single boost = 5× combo value into the lowest bank; Super Band Boost (3+ saved) = 10× into the two lowest banks. In multiball they spot an Icarus hit / instantly add a ball.

Zeppelin Awards (upper/side-flipper shots). Each side shot starts the next super feature — Super Spinner → Super Pops → Super Slings → Super Ramps — and adds +5 sec to the Icarus X timer. 8 Zeppelin Awards lights an Extra Ball at the left eject.

Multiballs.

Wizard ladder. Mothership (5 songs → right orbit) → World Tour (all 4 Tour MBs → left eject, 6-ball, City Jackpots) → Top of the Charts (all 10 songs → right orbit, platinum chase) → Celebration Day final wizard (all 10 songs platinum → right orbit; ends with a Diamond Record that adds +1× to end-of-ball bonus).

Bonus. Bonus X built via the ROLL inlanes (lane change, max 50×). 5 extra balls on default, all collected at the left eject.

How Led Zeppelin plays

Pick a Led Zeppelin song before every plunge and grind record sales while you build the four target banks that power the Icarus X playfield multiplier. Take songs to platinum and play the four tours to reach the World Tour and Celebration Day wizards.

The loop

  1. Choose a song at the plunge, then keep the ball alive and hit the roving lit arrows to bank gold records.
  2. Open a combo on the left orbit, chain it through the center ramp, and cash it into whichever target bank is lowest to raise the Icarus X product.
  3. Start a tour at the left eject and lock balls at the left ramp so a single multiball advances both at once.
  4. Fire Icarus just before a guitar-solo center-ramp window or a multiball super so every shot scores under the multiplier.
  5. Platinum all ten songs for Celebration Day and play all four tours for the six-ball World Tour Multiball.

Reading the lights

  • Target Banks & Icarus X (multiplier) — lit: Each of the four standup banks carries its own multiplier that ticks up when you end a combo in it, and the four build through the ball as you keep feeding them. · then: Because Icarus X is the four banks multiplied together, feed whichever is lowest to keep them even, then hit the Icarus standup to light the timed playfield multiplier and shoot it again to recalculate the product. Clearing the L-E-D bank and then the Z-E-P bank also raises the pop-up magic-wand toy for Electric Magic Multiball.
  • Song Award Shots (mode) — lit: The lit arrows are the current song's scoring shots, and they rove from section to section as the song plays, so the shot you were hitting goes dark while a fresh one lights up. · flashing: A quick white cue blinks on a shot just before it lights, showing where to aim next. · then: Bank five gold records to finish a song, which opens the right orbit for a song change and pays out a Band Boost, while ten records on one song takes it platinum. Both finishing and switching songs hand you more Band Boosts to spend on the action button.
  • Zeppelin Locks (status) — lit: The lock lights at the left ramp under the airship, and every ball you lock stays banked toward the multiball rather than resetting. · then: Lock three at the left ramp -- best taken as a backhand from the left flipper -- to start the four-ball Zeppelin Multiball, then grind the jackpots toward the super waiting at the left eject. Knock down R-O-C-K to bring the locks back for later multiballs.
  • Tour Engine (mode) — lit: The left eject starts and selects tours, and you qualify each one first by shooting the right ramp a few more times each round. · flashing: A green arrow flashes at the left eject once a tour is qualified and ready to pick and start. · then: Only the right flipper reaches the cross-field left eject, so set up on a right-flipper cradle to scroll and confirm your tour, clear its objectives, and take the next eject shot to launch the multiball. Playing all four tours qualifies the six-ball World Tour wizard.
  • ROLL Inlanes (Bonus X) (lanes) — lit: A lit ROLL insert marks the inlane you still need, and a completed pair stays credited toward the end-of-ball Bonus X for the rest of the ball. · then: Position the lit insert under the inlane you want and roll the ball through to bank it, and completing both ROLL inlanes steps up Bonus X toward a 50x cap applied to your whole end-of-ball bonus. · control: Either flipper button: tapping either flipper nudges the lit ROLL insert sideways from one inlane to the other, so you can set it under whichever inlane the ball is about to drop into and collect the letter you still need (any time before the ball reaches an inlane, though three center-ramp loops in a row shut lane change off until you take a different major shot)
  • Zeppelin Awards (ladder) — lit: Every side shot off the upper flipper kicks off the next super feature in a fixed order, from Super Spinner through Super Pops, Super Slings, and Super Ramps, and the awards you collect stack across the ball. · then: Feed the side shot off the upper-right flipper to roll through the supers, adding seconds to the Icarus X window with each one, and collect eight Zeppelin Awards to light an extra ball at the left eject. Treat that upper flipper carefully, since a missed side shot is the fastest drain on the machine.

Lane change: the flipper buttons move the lit lane. Tapping either flipper walks the lit ROLL insert over to the other inlane, so you can set it under the inlane the ball is about to enter; complete both to step the end-of-ball Bonus X toward its 50x cap. Looping the center ramp three times in a row disables lane change until you take a different major shot.

Start scoring

The Action Button on Led Zeppelin

Center of the lockdown bar.

Your Band Boost button, and the confirm key for the two menus that shape a ball. Boosts are the cheapest way to finish a combo when the ball is nowhere near a target bank.

Goals in Led Zeppelin

Every goal below is tracked step-by-step, with shot paths drawn on the playfield map, inside the app.

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